Germans From Russia DRAFT ~ GENEALOGICAL REsEARCH OUTLINE
thousands of colonists from Germany, largely because of the This outline will introduce you to sources and following incentives. strategies for researching your German-Russian heritage. The Family History Library has a sig ~ Free transportation to Russia nificant number of materials to help. Most of the ~ Large tracts of free land, plenty Library's holdings are available on microfilm ofwater, free timber and can be used at the library in Salt Lake City ~ The free exercise of religion or ordered at one of the family history centers. ~ Interest-free loans for purchasing You can determine whether the library has equipment specific records by using the Family History ~ Freedom from taxes for ten to Library Catalog". This catalog is available on thirty years, depending on the microfiche and on compact disc computer area of settlement format. You can use it at the library in Salt Lake ~ Exemption from military service City or at any of the family history centers. .for themselves and their descendants You can obtain the address of the family history ~ Local self-government in colonies center nearest you by writing: 1764-1767 German colonies are founded along Family History Library the Volga River. Isolated colonies are 35 North West Temple Street founded in the Ukraine (including Salt Lake City, UT 84150 Belovesh) and around St. Petersburg.
IMPoRTANT DATES IN THE HISTORY 1786 The first Black Sea colony, Alt Danzig, is founded. OF THE GERMANS FROM RUSSIA 1789-1790 German Mennonite colonies are As Imperial Russia expanded, a great need founded in the Khortitsa district in developed for capable and industrious workers, the south Russian province of especially farmers, to settle these new and often Taurida. unsafe lands. Many Germans, eager to improve their positions in life, began to colonize in 1804 Czar Alexander I invites colonists to Russia. As their colonies grew, the Germans settle in the Black Sea region of developed more land and established "daughter South Russia. colonies." Many of these Russian Germans later emigrated to the United States, Canada, and 1804-1827 German colonies are founded in the South America. The timetable here lists Black Sea region. Colonies are,estab important events in the history of the Germans in lished in the Odessa and Beresan Russia. districts of Kherson province, in.the Molotschna district in Taurida,· and 1762 Catherine the Great issues first mani in the Crimea. festo inviting foreigners to settle in Russia. No response. 1813 Alexander I invites colonists to settle in Bessarabia province. (This was 1763 Catherine the Great issues second territory acquired from Turkey in manifesto inviting foreigners to settle 1812.) in Russia. This time it attracts 1814-1842 German colonies are founded in 1854-1859 German Mennonite colonies founded Bessarabia. near Samara on the Volga river.
1816 Two German colonies are founded in 1861 Russian serfs are emancipated. eastern Volhynia near Novograd Volynskiy. 1860-1875 Germans settle in the Volhynia in large numbers. They are encouraged 1817-1818 German colonies are founded in the by Russian noblemen needing peas North Caucasus (also called Trans ants to farm their lands. But they do caucasia) and South Caucasus. not enjoy the favored status offered to earlier German colonists. 1822-1832 German colonies founded in the Molotschna area of eastern Ukraine 1871 The Imperial Russian government near Berdyansk on the Black Sea and repeals the manifestos of Catherine in the Mariupol district (also called the Great and Alexander I. The Planer or Gronau district). German colonists were to ~ their special status and privill:ges and 1831-1832 Germans from Russian Poland settle become subject to Russian military in western Volhynia near Lutsk and service after a ten year grace period. ~ Rovno. 1872-1873 Several groups emigrate from the 1849 A group of German colonists from Odessa area to Nebraska and the the Beresan district emigrate to Ohio. Dakotas. Scouts from other Black
Areas of German Colonization •~ In Russia
Samara BeIovesh
\ Beresan '\
South Caucasus You can also get information about village co Rath, George. The Black Sea Germans in the ordinators as well as about how to become one Dakotas. Freeman, SO: Pine Hill Press, yourself by writing to one of the following 1977. chairpersons (include a stamped addressed enve lope): Copyright • 1992 by Corporatioo of the President ofThe Carol Harless Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All Rights 595 Camellia Way Reserved. Printed in USA. Los Altos, California 94024 The Family HislDry Library. Second DRAFT Edition, Margaret Freeman September 1995. dIllS (MDraft Editioo" indicates that this 1015 22nd Street publieatioo, although used for expediency, has not been Santa Monica, California 90402 officially completed and may have deficiencies. Copying is prohibited.) BmLIOGRAPHY Family HislDry Library CaIaIog is a trademark of the Corporation of the President of The Church ofJesus The following are books of interest to those with Christ of Latter.
Geisinger, Adam. From Catherine to Khrushchev; the story ofRussia's Germans. Battleford, Saskatchewan: Marian Press, 1974.
Koch, Fred C. The Volga Germans in Russia and the Americas. from 1763 to the PresellJ. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977.
Miller, Michael M. Researching the Germans from Russia: Annotated Bibliography of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at the Nonh Dakota State University Library; with a Listing ofthe Clio 71 S. Library Materials at the Germans from 11ft) Russia Heritage Society. Fargo, NO: IN North Dakota Institute for Regional 111f~ Studies, 1987. Cj 17-5 J~)
8 Black Sea migrants, respectively.) Ackermann is found under 58 (page 683) and 73 8. References or additional infonnation are at (page 684). times provided. The following are included: a) RL stands for Revision List or Census SOCIETIES, LmRARIES, AND .ARCHIVES List. These imIiiigration lists provide infor mation only for the Black Sea area for the There are several organizations in the United years 1816; partly for 1811, 1808 and 1858. States and Canada that foster and promote The Revision Lists are found on pages 499 Russian-German culture, history, and genealogy. to 972. There is a place name index to the Revision lists on pages 1015 and 1016. b ) American Historical Society of Germans PL stands for Passport Lists. These lists (I from Russia through VIII) are for a small part of the 631 D Street Black Sea colonies. These provide the itiner Lincoln, Nebraska 68502-1199 ary from Germany to Russia. These lists are Telephone (402) 474-3363 found on pages 973 to 1014. c) CK stands for Conrad Keller. Conrad Keller published Germans from Russia Heritage Society names in his book, The Gel7TUJn Colonies In 1008 East Central Avenue South Russia noted earlier. d) OW stands for Bismarck, North Dakota 58501 the book by Karl Stumpp Ostwanderung der Telephone (701) 223-6167 WQrttemberger 1816-1822. (Emigration from Wiirttemberg to the East 1816-1822). This Society for Ancestral Research of lists names of migrants. (Not available at the Germans from Poland & Family History Library) e) Jb stands for Wolhynia Jahrbuch des DAI (Yearbook of the DAI). 3492 West 39th Avenue Published 1929 in Stuttgart. (Not available at Vancouver, British Columbia the Family History Library) 1) Abbreviations Canada V6N 3A2 and such symbols as *, +, and co are ex Telephone (604) 263-3458 plained on pages 117, 167 and 204. These organizations sell books and maps and EXAMPLE; produce membership publications of interest and value to those of Russian-German heritage. Ackermann, Johannes, Ww., 41 J., aus HeutensbauchlBacknang-Wu, 1819, nach VllLAGE COORDINATORS HoffnungstaI/Od; RL: 58, 73 S.: Johannes 11, Christian 9. Genealogical research in the German colonies in Russia will, in time, be greatly facilitated by the Johannes Ackermann was a widower, age 41, recently instituted system of village coordinators. when he migrated from Heutensbauch I These are individuals who coordinate the gather Backnang in Wiirttemberg (Germany) in 1819 to ing of information and compiling data-bases HoffnungstaI, Odessa District Russia. More about the inhabitants of specific villages. You information is given in Revision Lists 58 and 73. are encouraged to share your family information His sons, Johannes 11 and Christian 9, were with the village coordinator for the village your with him. ancestors came from. You may also benefit from information already submitted by others. A list To find Revision List 58 and 73, tum to page of villages and village coordinators is available 1015 and 1016 and find HoffnungstaI/Od. at the Family History Library (in the "Germans Ackermann migrated to Hoffnungstal/Od. The in Russia" reference binder by the European lists for HoffnungstaIl Od. are found on page reference counter on Basement level I). 678. The information pertaining to Johannes
7 Russian-Americap Genealogical Archive Service Aberle, George P. Monsignor. Pioneers and (RAGAS). You may request bilingual research their Sons. Bismark, N.D.: Tumbleweed application forms by contacting: Press, 1980. (Family History Library US/Canada collection book number RAGAS 978.4 D3a; FHL film number 1,035,608 1929 18th Street, NW items 1 and 2) Washington, DC 20009 Volume one includes 165 and volume two 2,120 REcORDS IN NORTII AMERICA family histories of Catholic families in and around Stark county, North Dakota. In most Some emigrant groups, however, may have cases, these histories trace the direct line two or brought their records with them when they left three generntions back through Russia and back Russia. Thus, the vital records of a few of these to Germany. colonies, especially Mennonite colonies, might be in collections in the United States and Keller, Conrad. The German Colonies in South Canada. If you are looking for Mennonite Russia, 1804-1904 (A. Becker, records, check with the Mennonite congregation translator). Saskatoon, Canada: Western in North America where the family first settled. Producer, 1968-1973. (Family History Library Europe collection book number North Dakota received many immigrant German 947.7 F2k; Vol. 1 on FHL film number Russians from the Kherson provinces of Russia. 873,989, Vol. 2 on film number Their pattern of settlement in this country is 1,181,597 item 3). directly related to their pattern of settlement in Russia. Catholic fanulies from the Beresan Volume two includes detailed information about region and many from Crimea settled in Stark the Beresan Catholic colonies. For each colony a county, North Dakota. Catholic families from list of inhabitants in 1839-1840 is provided with the Katschurgan and Leibenthal regions settled in ages, relationships, and places of origin in Emmons, Logan, and McIntosh counties. In Germany. many cases, the original Catholic immigrants recorded their heritage in the records of the new Brendle, Johannes. Aus deutschen Kolonien in Catholic parish in North Dakota. When Kurschurganer Gebiet [From the German researching the genealogy of German-Russian Colonies in the Kuchurgan district] Catholic families from North Dakota, it is Stuttgart: Ausland und Heimat Verlags important to determine where they originally Aktiengesellschaft, 1930. (Family settled in North Dakota. The records of the History Library Europe collection book Catholic parish in that place will then help in number 943 W2sd; not microfilmed). tracing your ancestry. Priests are usually happy to help those who wish to research the records in Includes detailed information in German about person and may help by correspondence. the Kuchurgan Catholic colonies near Odessa. It Remember that in some cases the records of one provides lists of settlers for each village with parish may have been consolidated with those of ages, relationships, and places of origin in another parish. For those whose ancestors settled Germany. in Stark county, considerable research has already been done and the information written For Mennonites the following book can be very up. The following books will prove to be of helpful: great value:
5 Unruh, BenjlUTlil! Heinrich. Die niederlandisch researching Germans in Russia. It lists most of niederdeutschen HillJergrwuIe der the original German colonists who came to nJe1l1lOnitischen OstwandeTWIgen im 16., Russia and usually indicates their place of origin 17•• und 19. Jahrhunden [The in Germany. Netherlands=tow German background of the Mennonite migration to the East in Stumpp, Karl. The Emigration from Ge17Tli11fJ to the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries]. Russia in the Years 1763 (01862. Tiibingen: Karlsruhe: Self-published, 1955. Karl Smmpp, 1972. (Family History Library Europe collection book number 943 W2k; also This book, in Gennan, includes background on FHL microfiche number 6,000,829 or on history on the Mennonite movement into Russia. FHL microfilm number 1,183,529). This book is Lists are then given of families according to the also available for purchase from the Russian town in Russia where they settled and time Gennan organizations listed on page 7. period, including in many cases birthplaces in Gennany or Poland. This book is the single most valuable source for those researching Gennan families from Russia. TRACING FAMU.IFS BACK TO It includes excellent infonnation in English on GERMANY the history of Germans in Russia (pages 15-40) and lists of Gennan emigrants to Russia. For Despite difficulties in accessing records in genealogists, the most valuable part of the book Russia, it is often possible for you to suc is the alphabetical lists of emigrants. These are cessfully trace your lineage to Germany and divided into three sections. back to the early 16OOs. 10 some cases where vital records are unavailable or have significant 1. The emigrants to the Volga region, pages gaps it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish 117 to 165. a line of ancestors through the 1800s in Russia. 2. The Mennonite emigrants to South Russia Nevertheless, even in these cases there may be and the province of Samara, pages 167 to family sources or printed sources that enable you 204. to do so. You may have older relatives who can 3. The emigrants to the Black Sea regions remember several generations of infonnation, or (except Mennonites), pages 204 to 497. such infonnation may be recorded in family Bibles or other family documents. lofonnation about each emigrant listed is presented in the following order: The Gennan colonists who settled in Russia came mostly from southern Gennany, principally 1. Surname Wiirttemberg. If you can determine the specific 2. Given name (first name) place where the family originated you can trace 3. Given name (second name) the family back using German records micro- . 4. Age (this is not always listed) filmed by the Family History Library. 10 many 5. The place in Gennany the migrant left. (The cases, however, the colonists spent a generation village or town name is spelled out; the in Poland before moving on to Russia. If you district name is abbreviated. Abbreviation can determine the place in designations are listed on pages 117, 167, Poland where the family lived, clues necessary and 204 for Volga, Mennonite and Black Sea to trace the family back to Gennany may be migrants, respectively.) found in the Polish records. Many of these 6. Year of migration Polish records are also available through the 7. Destination in Russia. (The village is spelled Family History Library. out; the district name is abbreviated. Abbreviation designations are listed on pages The following work is of great value to those 117,267 and 204 for Volga, Mennonite and
6 SoURCFS FOR. GENEALOGICAL RUSSIA (EMPIRE), BSSSARABIA, (PARISH) REsEARCH RUSSIA (EMPIRE), VOLHYNJA, (PARISH) AUSTRIA, GAuzrEN, (PARISH) Vital Records: Vital-records of birth, marriage, AUSTRIA, BUKOWINA, (PARISH) and death are needed to undertake actual research in Russia. Such records were kept by The library recently acquired church record the churches. Laws were passed in the mid transcripts from the Lutheran Consistory of 1820s requiring Protestant and Catholics to make St. Petersburg. These pertain to German transcripts of their birth (christening), marriage, Lutheran parishes in the Black Sea area, and death (burial) records. Records may have Bessarabia, Volhynia as well as areas around been kept earlier, however. These transcripts St. Petersburg itself, but do not include German and some original church records have in most Mennonites or Catholics. These films cover the cases ended up in state archives. time period from 1833 to 1885. The film numbers are listed in the Family History Library Catalog. The fastest way to fmd them is on the REcORDS AT THE FAMILY HIsToRY compact disk version of the catalog on computer. LmRARY Select the "Computer Number Search" and input the number 710454. This is not a film number The Family History Library has only recently but rather a computer number which can quickly begun acquiring records from archives in Russia fmd the catalog entry with all the film numbers. and Ukraine. Nevertheless, some vital records of Unfortunately these films are very difficult to German colonies have already been acquired use without the index to parishes which indicates from other sources, including the following: where and on what films you can fmd specific localities and years. This is The Lutherans of Church records of the Lutheran colonies in Russia: VoL 1 - Parish Index to the Church Bessarabia. These films do not cover all Books ofthe Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory at colonies and are incomplete in many cases. St. Petersburg, 1833-1885, by Thomas K. Unfortunately, many of these films are of Edlund. (St. Paul: Germanic Genealogical poor quality. (Most of the Bessarabian films Society, P.O. Box 16312, St. Paul, MN 55116, are also available at the library of the published 1994; FHL book no. University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, 947.2 K23e 1994; not yet on microfiche.) The North Dakota and at the headquarters of the later records of St. Petersburg archive up American Historical Society of Germans through 1820 are at the St. Petersburg city from Russia in Lincoln, Nebraska.) archive and have not been microfilmed. .. Church Records of the Lutheran parish of REcORDS. IN ARCHIVFS Roschischtsche which had jurisdiction over all the German colonies in western Volhynia. The Family History Library as yet has NO records from the Volga region, nor from the .. Church records from some German colonies Caucasus. The transcripts of the Volga in Bukowina and Galicia, formerly in Evangelical Lutheran colonies appear to be at the Austria. state archives in Saratov. It may be possible to get information from these records through These films may be ordered and used at any private researchers in Russia. For more Family History Center. For film numbers check information about this contact the American the microfiche locality section of the Family Historical Society of Germans from Russia in History Library Catalog under one of the Lincoln, Nebraska, listed at the end of this following: paper. Research in archives in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine can also be arranged through the
4 Sea colonies and the Volga colonies been farming for generations. Volga Germans investigate opportunities in settled mostly in Colorado, Nebraska, and America. Kansas. The greatest concentration of Black Sea Germans is in the Dakotas. German Mennonites 1874 The Imperial Russian government from Russia settled in Kansas, Colorado, amends the 1871 decree and institutes Nebraska, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, compulsory military conscriRtion of California, and Manitoba. Most Volhynian German colonists immediately. Germans settled in Michigan;-wisconsm and Jf Western Canada. 1874-1914 Thousands of German colonists emigrate from Russia to North and FINDING PLACE OF ORIGIN IN RUSSIA South America. The frrst step in researching your Russian 1914 The First World War begins. German genealogy is to determine specifically where in Russia your ancestors lived. You may 1917 Political unrest in Russia leads to two be able to fmd out the town your ancestor came revolutions and the beginning of from by talking to older family members. The Soviet communist rule. family may have documents concerning the place of origin such as old passports, birth or marriage 1919 The United States government enacts certificates, journals, photographs, letters, or a strict immigration laws which greatly family Bible. Even if something is written in slows the tide of immigrants. Canada German or Russian, it may contain valuable continues to receive German information. Get help in reading it. Other immigrants from Russia. sources are found in local libraries and courthouses and at the Family History Library 1920-1923 Famine in Russia. Over 150,000 including: naturalization applications and Voiga Germans i11e~ of starvation. -----_.--- "----_.... ------._.. -_.~----_ ...-.__.,. petitions; obituaries; county histories; marriage and death certificates; and American passenger 1928-1940 German farm~ and property are con lists of arrivals as well as European lists of fis
3 "Ruord Pmtullon m WORLD CONFERENCE an Unctrtam W'orfd" ON RECORDS AND GENEALOGICAL SEtv11NAR
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. 5-8 August 1969
EMIGRATION FROM GERMANY THROUGH POLAND AND RUSSIA TO THE U.S.A.
By
Prof. George Rath
COP'YIIGRTCl 1969 THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF lAnU·OAY SAINTS. INC. AREA o· 9 EMIGRATION FROM GERMANY THROUGH POLAND AND RUSSIA TO THE U.S.A.
By
Prof. George Rath
From early times Germany has been a country surrounded by many powerful nations. It has had no possibilities for expansion to make room for it's growing population exept by means of force or emigration to other countries. We see, therefore, the population from Germany emigrating to countries east and west of their homeland.
In the course of the German emigration to the eastern countries one can distinguish two phases:
1. The emigration at the beginning of the Medieval Age which resulted in the building of cities by the merchants and craftsmen in those countries where they settled.
2. The emigration during the latter part of the 18th century to the farm or open country resulting in the colonization of idle land,
We deal in our discourse especially with the latter emigration. Originally directed to the East, it ended to a greet extent in the West; in the United States, Canada and the countries of South America. (1) It would take much time to go deeply into it, and we can only take here a short glance at it in our discourse.
Transylvsnis
It was the Hungarian king Geise II (1141 . 61) who invited the Saxons from Flanders and inhabitants from the Middle and Lower Rhine to settle and cultivate his land. Seventy years later the king Andrew II called the German Order to the Burzenland. The Order of the German Knights and the Saxon peasants practically brought Transylvania to life. With the years arose blooming cities, like Hermannstadt, Mediasch, Klausenburg, Kronstadt and others. Before the first world war there lived in Siebenburgen about 250,000 Germans. Ther Germans of the Zips, 46,000, are a part of this group.
The Banst
1 A continuation of the emigration to this region took place under the Austrian Empress Maria Theresia (1717·1780) and her son Joseph" (1741·1790) in the Banat. This country lies in the lower areas of the rivers Theis, Maros, and Temes. It was won from the Turks in 171B. When Maria Theresia heard of the colonization plans of Catherine II of Russia, she decided to colonize this land for Austria. With a great system of canals the marshy country was drained and then cleaned of brush and trees. About 45 acres of land and many privileges were offered to settlers. They came from almost the same countries as the settlers who went to the Volga, Alsace- Lorraine, Baden, Wurttemberg, and Palatinate. Often members of the same family separated in a manner that one or some went to Russia and the others to the Banat. Correspondence continued for a while but later stopped. About 1,000 families were originally settled in the Banat. Later came more settlers, who had to be satisfied with less land.121
Poland.
Poland profited from it's beginning from the German immigration. The cities of Krakau, Warsaw and many others were in the thirteenth century but little villages. The German merchants and craftsmen developed them into industrious and important cities. Polish kings granted great privileges to the German immigrants over a period of several centuries. Among these the most important was the privilege of their own jurisdiction under the Magdeburgian law. However Kasimir the Great (1333·1370) deprived them of that privilege and from that time there began a decline of the German cities and the influence of the Germans. The cities became "Polanized" and the German immigration came to an end for a time.
However, in the later part of the 18th century German immigration was renewed, under favor of the Polish gentry. (3) They leased land to the German farmers from their estates, usually for a period of 30·40 years. According to the Polish law this privilege was hereditary, Thus on the Vistula River sprang up numerous settlements of German farmers. When Poland was divided in 1772, Prussia and Austria began to colonize their Polish areas with German colonists. The Western part of Poland received at that time a great influx of German colonists. Before the first world war Poland had a population of about 700,000 Germans who lived in both the cities and the country. (4)
Galicia
The so·called Tolerance edict of Emperor Joseph " in 1771 found it's application especially in the province of Galicia. Of course Germans settled here very early from the older settlements of Poland, especially in the cities, but after the division of Poland, new groups of colonists came from West Galicia, Germany, and Austria proper, and settled especially in Eastern Galicia. They were both Catholic and Protestant. Land, money and loans (51 were
2 granted to them, but the country was already very densely settled. The Ruthenians or, as they call themselves now, Ukrainians, were an agriculturally minded people. The German colonies among them remained small. Usually some trade or handycraft had to be learned to go along with farming. These German settlements were extensively spread over the country, (6) their number totaling about 50,000 persons.
Bukowina
This province had already received German immigrants in the Medieval Age. They came into that country, from Transylvania and Galicia. The immigrants of this earty time were mostly merchants, craftsmen, teachers and officials. The Moldavian princes were always favorably inclined to the Germans and granted them many privileges. When the first Germans arrived, Czernowitz was only a linle village. After Austria had taken over the rule of the country in 1774, it brought in a strong influx of German senlers in order to better cultivate the land. Numerous villages sprang up and other German people settled in the cities. The German language was taught in 500 public schools. In 1875 a German university was founded in Czernowitz. (7) The cities in this country in time took on an European aspect because of the houses built by the Germans. The province had .about 75,000 persons of German descent.
Volhynia
The Province of Volhynia was taken over by the R\lssians after the first division of Poland, but the Polish influence was still strong for many years. The Mennonites, who had settled in the neighboring province of Kiev at Michalin, moved from there to VOlhynia around 1723. It is definitely known that some of them settled in this province in 1773, coming from Graudenz, Germany. After the Polish uprising in 1830 the Polish gentry began also in this province as in Poland proper to invite German settlers to their estates as renters, woodcutters and laborers. (8) They leased to them their land or used them to cut lumber in their forests, which was to a great extent sold to German factories. (9)
In 1860 after a renewed Polish uprising the German influx became even larger. The poor Polish gentry was anxious to make use of their marshy lands and forests and invited many thousands of new settlers. The settlements in this province arose before the first world war to about 500, but were usually very small in size. The German population in this province totaled about 200,000. (10) Almost all of them were Lutheran, except of course the Mennonites, but neither group ever became prosperous. (11)
Russia
3 Already Czar Ivan IV, the Terrible, (1533-1584) had called craftsmen, merchants and officers from Germany and senled them near Moscow in a villiage called "Nyemetzkaya Sloboda", Czar Peter I had also invited many Germans when he built his new capital St. Petersburg. But it was the Empress Catherine II, who with her manifesto of July 22, 1763, brought about a great exodus from Germany to Russia. Not only Germans were invited to come and to senle in her domain but Western Europeans in General.
The unsatisfactory conditions in Germany favored her invition. In fact the population suffered immensly under the steady wars. There were the three Silesian wars between Austria and Prussia; 1740·1742; 1742·1745; and 1756·1763. Interwoven with them were the Austrian Succession war 1741·1748; and the Bavarian Succession war 1778-1779. Finally the French Revolution came in 1789 (12) midst the general poverty and misery the call to Russia came for many as a relief or last resort.
Of most importance among the provisions of the manifesto, are the first 10 sections. Essentially they promise and grant to the senlers the following:
2. Exemption from taxes for a period of ten to thirty years.
3. loans for the aquisiton of necessary tools.
4. Thirty to sixty hectars of land.
5. Exemption from military service for "all the time of their residence in Russia."
6. Self·rule in church and school.
Item number seven, which deals with the freeing from military service, reads thus:
"Paseliwschiesya w Rassii innostrannye wa wso wremya prebywanyia swayewo, ni w wayennuyu, ni w graschdanskuyu sluschbu protiwu woli ich apredeleny ne budut."
In English:
"The foreigners which have settled in Russia shall during all the time of their living there not be put into military or civil service against their will."
Government agents spread copies of the edict translated into different languages in Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Austria and Prussia. About 25,000 persons were recruited and directed to the sea ports of luebeck, Rosslau and also some Hollandish ports including Kronstadt. (13) Some of the emigrants were settled around St. Petersburg in 13
4 villages, but the great majority was sent to the Volga over Novgorod, Tver, Moscow, Ryavan and Pensa. They landed in Saratov and were placed under the direction of a "Board of Guardians", This board settled the newcomers on both sides of the Volga river. Forty·four villages. were founded on the so·called hillside and 60 on the meadowside. some to the north·east and some to the south of Sarotov. (14)
The emigration to Russia went on till 1768, when the German states placed a prohibition on further emigration, This was not, however, until Germany in Russia had become the largest colonist group. Before the First World War it counted 554,000 persons. 116)
In spite of the measures of the western states, the emigration to Russia continued. In the years from 1765·1789 a number of Protestant and Catholic colonies were founded in the provinces of Cherson, Voronezch, Tschernigov and Ekaterinoslav. (17)
Mennonites
It was Potyomkin, governor general of South Russia, who in Company with general von Trappe succeeded in interesting the Prussian Mennonites on the Vistula River in the lowlands of Danzig to settle in the newly aquired areas of the Dnieper region. After having sent two delegates for investigation they, on the promise of an application of the privileges of the Empress being extended to them, moved down the Dnieper in 1789 and with 288 families founded 8 villages on and by the island of Chortiza in the province of Ekaterinoslav. later a new tract of land was given to the Mennonites by the government along the Molotschna River in the province of Taurida. By 1840 this group had founded 46 villages in South Russia, which had a population of about 10,000. The Mennonites were very successful in their farming and for the most part became wealthy,
Hutterites
Related to the Mennonites are the Hutterites, a religious group which after many hardships and persecutions was reorganized in Moravia by Jakob Hutter, from whom it accepted it's name. It finally found an asylum on the estate of Count Rumyanzew in Wischenka on the Dyesna River. From here the Hutterites, with the help of the Mennonite leader Johann Cornies, moved to the province of Taurida where they, in 1842,( 19) founded the village Huttertal in the district of Melitopol with 78 families. later three more villages were founded by them.
Colonization in the Black Sea Region
5 A continuation of the colonization in Russia was undertaken by Emperor Alexander I. by an edict published on February 20, 1804, he asserted the privileges granted by Catherine II with regard to military service and homerrule in church and school, and doubled the land apportionment. The colonists had to have property in the amount of about $300.00, be married, and present documents of good behaviour. These colonists were to be model farmers for the other nationalities. (20)
While the Volga Germans came predominantly from Hesse and to a small extent from Rhenish Franconia, Palatinate and Wurttemberg, this group came mostly from Werttemberg, Alsace-Iorraine, the Palatinate and 8avaria. (21)
As to religion, they were both Protestants and Catholics. A part of them became Baptists in Russia. The provinces in which these immigrants settled were 8essarabia, Cherson, Ekaterinoslav, Taurida, and the peninsula of Taurida. They founded 181 villages. With the other colonies the Russian Empire may have had 300 so-called "Mother colonies". (22) Their population at the beginning may have been about 100,000 persons.
Economic and Cultural Development.
There was a great difference in the economical development of the Volga and Black Sea Germans. The Volga colonies practiced the so-called "Mir" system. According to this the land ided among the inhabitants. This slowed down the economic development to a large degree. At the Black Sea, though, the original colonial land had to stay with one member of the family. The others had to look out for themselves. Thus the whole village had to look for the needed room or land for the next generation. The so called "mother colonies" had to buy again and again land for the so-called "Landlosen" i.e. those of the colony who were without land. On the newly bought land originated the "daughter colonies." At the Volga, the government twice added land to the original amount; about three million acres. Nevertheless, the need for more land remained. The surplus of the population stayed and was an obstacle in the economic progress.
In the mllllntime at the Black Sea, the villages bought about twelve million acres of land for "Landlosen", or land-lacking, to avoid overpopulation. (23) The land, however, was never bought from the Russian farmers or peasants. It was the Russian gentry who sold their lands at high prices to the German settlers. Naturally the price of the land rose very fast. In 1910 the hectar - about three acres - was sold for 300 rubles, ($150.001. Every year more land came into the hands of the German colonists, for they were thrifty and industrious people.
An example may serve to illustrate this. In the provinces of Bessarabia, Cherson, Tauria and Ekaterinoslav, the German population averaged 6% but the amount of their land was 23%. (24) Conditions were similar in other provinces in South Russia where the number of Germans,
6 including all religious confessions, was about 500,000 souls. They were very much spread out on account of the necessity to make room for their activities as farmers. Daughter colonies were founded in the Don province, the Kuban, the Caucasus, Orenburg, Turke.tan and Siberia. Before the first World War there were about 3,000 larger or smaller vi.llages with a population of 1,700,000, not counting the Germans in the Baltic provinces, Congress Poland and Polish Volhynia. (25)
The civil rule of the colonies was executed by the Committee of Guardians in Saratov and Odessa. The direction of the religious matters lay in the hands of the General Consistory in St. Petersburg. (26) The language used in school and church was the native German language. The government did not contribute to the maintenance of the church nor the schools. They were all maintained by the colonists. There was seldom found a person who could not read or write. Illiterates were practically unknown among the Russian-Germans, while according to the census of 1897 the Russian population was as high as 78% illiterate. (27)
Time does not allow us to continue with the destiny of the Germans in the Russian Empire. We confine ourselves here only to these few lines.
During the First World War the infamous government of Czar Nikolas II issued the Acts of February 2 and December 13 of 1915 by which the German colonists lost all rights to their land and property. He could not live up to the execution of these laws for, as we know, he and his family were executed in Katharinenburg. Kerensk y postponed the execution of these laws, but the Communists had their chance to realize the ideas of Nikolas. They deprived all Germans in European Russia of their possessions and sent them to Siberia or Turkestan. Not a single German village is left on the European soil of Russia. But in spite of all the desaster, as we hear, the German colonists came slowly back. (28)
Immigration to the United States
On June 4, 1871 the government of Czar Alexander II issued a decree by which the German colonists lost all the privileges granted to them by Catherine II and Alexander I. Even the name was taken away. They were no more "Coloniste" but settlers (in Russian "Paselyane"). They still were not made "Krestyane", as the Russian peasants were officially called, but in fact subjected to the "Semstwo", and made equal to the Russian peasantry. For them, this was a discrimination of their social standing. (29) They began to look for some other place for settlement. North and South America became the countries to which they emigrated.
"Among the many good reasons which motivated the immigration of the Russian-Germans to the United States, four are outstanding: 1- General unrest; 2- the wanderlust; 3- the Ukase of June 4, 1871 and; 4- land hunger coupled with land need." (30) Thus writes A. Schock, in his book: In quest of free land. This is all true, but the moral side of
7 the problem also played an immense role.
In the United States, meanwhile, the West was conquered. Hundreds of millions of acres of land were lying idle waiting for an industrious human hand to wake them up.
The railroades . The Union Pacific. Santa Fe, Burlington, Northern Pacific, and others took upon them the task of Iinking the Pacific with the Atlantic. The federal government granted them 181,000,000 acres of land, to the individual states 140,000,000 acres. The federal land office sold 100,000,000 acres to settlers. People from their own "old west" and from Western Europe came across the ocean to take homesteads by the thousands and hundreds of thousands.
Congress provided laws to dispose of these huge portions of land. Four laws were outstanding for getting settlers for the West: 1· the preemption law of 1841; 2· The homestead law of 1862 which offered an acre for $1.25; 3- the Timber and Culture Act; and 4- the Desert Act of 1877. (31) Agents were employed by the federal government and railrOad companies as well as by individual states to invite settlers from their own country and Europe. These agents and millions of pamphlets found their way also to Russia. (32)
The first group of Russian-Germans had arrived much earlier though; namely in 1849. It was William Schauffler, a Russian-German, who had studied at Andover, Massachusetts, and became a Presbyterian missionary for the Jews in Constantinople, who pointed out to a group of pietistic minded people in Odessa the religious freedom they could enjoy in America. (33) Another minister of the gospel, Johannes Bonekemper, from Umbrecht, Germany, who was in charge of a parish north of Odessa, also a pietist like Schauffler, decided to move with his group to the United States. However, he went to the then Turkish Dobrudja and his people, about 80 persons, left without him (34) for America where they landed on the 10th of November, 1849. This was the first group of Russian-Germans to come to the United States. However, soon after their arrival they dispersed after suffering many hardships.
A few of them came to Sandusky. Ohio, where they settled. One of them, LUdwig Bette, who had become a wine grower and wealthy man on Kelleys Islandd in Lake Erie, decided in 1B72 to visit his relatives in Russia. While there he talked about the wonderland America, and after what had happened since June of 1871, he found willing ears to listen. He was hardly home, before his closest relatives followed him, and he placed them on his farm. About 75 persons came during the winter of 1872-73, and settled in Sandusky, waiting until spring to move westward. A delegetion sent to the West found South Dakota to be a most suitable place ofr settlement. On April 17th these Russian-German immigrants landed in Yankton and took homesteads 20 miles north of that city. They called the settlement Odessa. (35)
The first settlers from Russia in Nebraska were a group of 46 persons who came in April 1873 from the province of Bessarabia and settled at Columbus. (36)
B In the fall of 1873 a group of about 300 persons came on the ships Cimbria and Thuringias from the province of Cherson, and settled in and near Sutton, Nebraska, (37) with some going to South Dakota.
The Mennonites
The Mennonites had sent to St. Petersburg one delegation after the other to bring about the change of th June edict. But all was in vain. Finally, upon the advice of one of their leaders, Cornelius Jansen, and on the invitation of the Canadian government, they and the Hutterites sent over to Canada and the United States three delegations to look for possibilities to settle. One of these groups reached an agreement with the Northern Pacific railroad for settlements in North Dakota. (38) However, the agreement was not kept. Two of the delegates were received by President Grant, in New York, but he could not give them the assurance of exemtion for military service. (39)
The petition of Cornelius Jansen and his friends to the Congress for the setting aside of an area of 200,000 acres for the Mennonites was also not granted, They had to accept the laws made for all immigrants. (40) The American Mennonites organized a "Committee of Guardians" which directed their friends from Russia and assisted them. The State of Kansas received the majority of the Mennonite immigration, about 600 families, with South Dakota receiving about 200 families, and Nebraska about 15. (41)
The Volga Germans
In 1874 the Evangelical and Catholic Volga German colonies held meetings which resulted in the election of 14 delegates whom they sent to the United States to look for land. Nine of them were Evangelical and five were Catholic. They came over on the ship Schiller or the Hamburg America Line. They were in the states of ARkansas, Kansas, and Nebraska. In September of the same year the immigration from the Volga began. The Pretestants went to Sutton, Nebraska, and the Catholics to Kansas. Some of the Protestants also went to Kansas.
The Hutterites
The first Hutterites arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska, in July 1873. Scouting from here for land and not finding what they expected, they went to Yankton, South Dakota, where they stayed until August, 1874, when they bought an estate west of town on which they founded their first "Bruderhof" . brotherly estate. (42) At the sam'! time they also settled at Silver Lake in Turner County, and later at the Wolf creek on the James River. (43) Later they
9 organized about 24 "brotherly estates" . "Bruderhofe".. in South Dakota. (44)
Settlements in the Individual States
South Dakota
From 1873 until 1884 the Russian·Germans settled in South Dakota in the counties of Hutchinson, Yankton, Bon Homme, Turner, Douglas, and Mix. By 1884 the land in these counties was almost all taken, and the immigration went farther north with the covered wagon or with the railroad. In the central part of the state are very few Russian·German settlements. They did settle, however, in the more northerly counties of Edmonds, McPherson, Campbell, Potter and Wallworth. (45)
The Mennonites came to South Dakota in the summer of 1873, and settled about 30 miles north of Yankton in the spring of 1874. They took homesteads near Freeman, Menno, and Parker. Most of them came from Volhynia, but also from the Crimea and Molotschna. They did not spread out in South Dakota as did the non-Mennonites. (46)
Nebraska
The settlement at Sutton did not develop to a large degree. The evangelical group spread out from there to Burlington, Colorado; St. Francis, Kansas; Culbertson, and McCook, Nebraska. The Catholics spread to Albion, Nebraska. (47)
The Volga Germans settled partly on farms near Sutton, but the majority went to work at the railroad and in the nearby towns. Materially they were by far less well-off than the Black Sea Germans. They scattered in the towns along the Burlington railroad: Hastings, Grand Island, York. Lincoln, though, became the main place of arrival and settlement. Here they found jobs and from here they spread out at the beginning of the century to the beetfields of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. (48)
The oldest settlements of the Mennonites in Nebraska is Beatrice. Mennonites from Germany also settled here. Jansen and Henderson have also settlements of this group.
Kansas
The first settlements of the Mennonites in Kansas originated north of Newton in Marion and McPherson counties in 1874. They founded the villages of Brudertal, Rosenort, Gnadenfeld, and others. Later they turned to individual farming buying most of their land from the Santa Fe railroad. (50)
10 The Protestant Volga Germans started for Kansas around Christmas, 1875. They settled first near Peabody, Marion, and Tampa in the neighborhood of the Mennonites in Marion county. Later they spread farther West to Rush and Russel counties; also to Bazine and Ness counties. (51 )
The Catholic Volga Germans started their immigration to Kansas in October 1875 on the ship Ohio of the North German Lloyd line. They settled also in Rush, Russel, and Ellis counties and organized a number of villages: Liebentaz, Pfeifer, Munior, Schoenchen, Catherine, and Victoria (formerly Herzog). (52) St. Francis has a Black Sea German Settlement. Some Black Sea Germans live near Russel. (53)
Oklahoma
When this state finally was opened for white settlement in 1891, protestant Volga Germans from Kansas crossed the line and settled on the upper course of the Canadian river. They founded a number of settlements including Shattuck, Tangier, and Okene. (54)
The Black Sea Germans settled at Clinton and Bessie. (55)
There are also some Mennonite Settlements at Menno, Cordell, and Mountain View.
North Dakota
The Russian-German immigration to this state began in 1884, and was a continuation of the immigration of the Black Sea Germans to South Dakota. At that time both states were one territory. When there was no more land in that state to settle, the move to North Dakota began. The Volga Germans were absent in this imigration and they were not many Mennonites. (56) The immigrants were almost all Protestant and Catholic Black Sea Germans. If one places the Missouri River in the middle, one may form of the area in which the Russian-Germans have settled in this state a pyramid, at the top of which will be Pierce County, not far from the Canadian border, and the base about 150 miles east and west of the river. The area comprizes 23 counties. The Protestants live mostly east of the river; the Catholics to the north-east and west of it. But the Protestant element predominates everywhere. After the Norwegians, the Germans and Russian-Germans form the largest national group in North Dakota. In 1910 the state counted 60,000 persons of Russian-Germans descent. Mcintosh county, for example, has a population of which 90% are Russian-Germans. (57) Strong Russian-German settlements are found also in the counties of Logan" Stutsman. McLean, Emmons, and Morton. (58)
Colorado
11 The first Volga Germans arrived in Denver in 1880 with the Union Pacific railroad on which they were working. They originally lived in Russel, Kansas. In 1900 when a sugar factory was built in Sugar City German workers were called in from Lincoln, Nebraska. From that time on began the immigration of that group to Colorado. Settlements arose in Ft. Lupton, Greeley, Windsor, Ft. Morgan, Ft. Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Montrose. (59)
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho
In the state of Wyoming the oldest Russian-German settlement is found in Cheyenne. The group was brought in by the Union Pacific railroad, The oil city of Casper has also a Volga German settlement. When in the Wind River and 8ig Horn 8asin irrigation and the planting of Sugar beets was begun in 1916, Volga German farmers and workers were brought in. Worland and Riverton also has Volga German settlements, (601 as well as Lovell and Wheatland. (61)
Montana has Volga German settlements in Billings, Hardin, Laural, Park City, and Worden. These are places with irrigation where beets, peas and beans are grown. (62)
Black Sea Germans live in the eastern part of Montana at Fallon, Watchins, Glendive, and Terry. (63)
Mennonite settlements are found on the Missouri at Wolf Point, and Hutterites at lewistown.
In Idaho we find the Volga Germans in Sugar City, St. Maries, Paul and Malbeta. They came here also with the beginning of the sugar industry. (64)
Washington
The Volga Germans reached this state in 1881. They came from Hastings, Nebraska, and settled at Ritzville. Further settlements of the group are at Walla Walla, Yakima, and Tacoma. (65)
Some Catholic Volga Germans settled at Toppenish.
The Black Sea Germans came to the state in 1890 and settled at Ritzville, Ralston, Odessa, lind, and Krupp (Marlin) (66)
Mennonites settled also at Ritzville.
Oregon
12 The oldest Volga German settlement in this state is in the northern part of Portland. In the 30's this settlement numbered about 500 families. It goes back to 1882, when the Volga Germans, after having worked for the Union Pacific, were either brought to or terminated their employment in San Francisco. From there they were brought to Portland by ship.
In 1891 a group of 81ack Sea Germans settled in Eugene, and in 1906 and 1909 in Mulino and Newberg.
In 1892 some 81ack Sea Germans settled also in Portland together with some Catholic Volga Germans.
California
A large Volga German settlement is found in Fresno. They came to California as workers on the vegetable growing fields and in the packing houses. Other settlements of that group are found in Reedley, Sanger, Dinuba, and Visalia. (69)
Lodi has a strong settlement of 81ack Sea Germans since 1897. The settlers originally came from Menno, South Dakota. From Lodi they spread out to the north and settled in Galt, Scampo, and Elk Grove. (70) In Southern California there are Black Sea and Mennonite settlements in Shafter and Bakersfield. (71)
Texas
Since 1890 some Black Sea Germans who probably came from Worms (Sutton), have settled in Texas. We find settlements in Henrietta, which was organized by them, and in Petrolia. (72)
Utah
There is a small settlement of Black Sea Germans in Provo. The group came to that state in 1887. They are from Neudorl of the province of Cherson. Originally they had gone to Palestine in 1873 with other templars. From there they came to Utah. (73)
Industrial Cities in the East
Industrial cities of the East received a great German influx especially of Volga Germans: Muscatine, Iowa . factory workers; Saginaw, 8ay City, and Flint. Michican automobile industry; Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Ashkosh, Racine, and Milwaukee, Wis.. Factory workers;
13 Chicago, Jefferson Park, Dolton, Lansing, Thorndton, Riverdale· in all of these are found Volga Germans. Groups are also found in Wauseon, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Pine Island, and Stuyvesant Falls.
Economic Developmenr. The immigration
According to the official dates of the Commissioner of Immigration since 1903 to 1927 there emigrated from Russia to the United States 115,022 persons., of German descent.
The highest number came in the years:
1905 10,279 1906 13,480 1911 11,031 1912 17,857 1913 9,889
Total persons who immigrated from Russia to the United States since 1857-1905 1,565,487. (74)
This shows that the highest immigration took place during or about the time of the Japanese war and the years before World War I. Dates from 1857 to 1903 indicate in general persons from Russia, but not the nationality.
One can state that the Germans from Russia became in time quite prosperous. About half of the Volga Germans from Russia are on farms in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and other states. The other half lives in.the cities and are employed in the factories, shops railroads, etc. They were usually much poorer than the Black Sea Germans at their arrival. Big settlements of Volga Germans employed in industries are found in Chicago, Lincoln, Denver, Portland, and Fresno. They usually live in the suburbs, but not in slums. Their yards and houses are clean. Hattie Plum Williams writes in her book A Social Study of the Russian German "Neglect ~"d decay of buildings is nowhere visible. On the other hand many of the houses of the settlement are made over from half tumbled down structures which were brought at a low price and remodeled under the skillful and painstaking hand of the owner."
The Volga Germans were very successful as beet farmers in Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. First they came as laborers, then they rented the farms and finally they bought them. About one-half of the beet farms in Colorado are owned by Volga Germans.
The Black Sea Germans live on farms in Nebraska, Kansas, South and North Dakota, Montana, and Washington. Where there is wheat to plant there they feel best. To a good part they were also poor when they came to the United States and experienced great hardships at
14 the begiMing. They contributed immensly to the building up of the farms where they settled and became more prosperous than the Volga Germans. Seldom were they satisfied with one quarter of land. Two ro three is the usual measure.
Religious Conditions
While in Russia the Germans were of the following confessions: Lutheran, Catholic, Mennonite, Baptist, and Hutterite, but in the United States, however, they split into smaller factions. Those who are Lutheran belong to a number of Lutheran denominations such as tha American Lutheran Church, Missouri Lutheran Chruch, Wisconsin Lutheran and United Lutheran.
The Congregational church had a GErman Congregational Branch which was dissolved at the Union of the Congregationalists with the Evangelical and Reformed churches. These three chutches now compose the United Church of Christ. The Russian·Germans who belonged to the Congregational, Evangelical and Reformed churches, now belong to the United Church of Christ. The United Bretheren linked with the Methodists and so the Russian-Germans who formerly belonged to that church are now Methodists.
One of the reasons for thyGerman emigration from Russia was the requirement to change their church services from their mother tongue to a foreign language. These immigrants experienced similar difficulties in the United States when their churches changed from German to English, which caused many bad feelings in the congregations.
We could count 400 congregations of different denominations not including the Mennonites, Hutterites, and Catholics.
The steamship lines used by the Russian-Germans to reach the shores of the United States were : The Hamburg America Line, Red Star Line, Inman Line, and The North German L1oyed.
The Mennonites used mainly the Hamburg America Line. It seems the service, especially the food, on the ships of this line was better than on the others. There were usually no small complaints concerning the treatment and food on the ships of the North German Lloyd.
The genealogist will have to face the sad experience that the records of the Hamburg America Line were destroyed. However there are records of the senate of the Free City of Hamburg that are preserved, and could be used for genealogical purposes. It is different, though, with the records of the North German Lloyd line of Bremen. Here everything was destroyed by the bombings that took place during the second World War.
The National ARchives and Record Service in Washington, D.C. has shipping records of
15 immigration beginning with 1820. These records are from the customs office, and are therefori! not complete. The Immigration Office has records from 1891 on, and the port of New York from 1897. The records on Russia begin with 1857. Unfortunately they do not indicate the descent of the persons. Only from 1904 on is the origin or extraction indicated.
Of importance for genealogy is a good number of family chronicles which were published by Russian-Germans as well as church records of different denominations to whom the Russian-Germans belong but especially important is a series of so-called Jubilee books published in South and North Dakota. Our bibliography will give an account of those.
16 FOOTNOTES
(t) Stumpp. Kart. Die RualllttddefJtll:hen in VtW,. H~ima.buch 1963. pp. 18.21.
(2) Abellt"', GCOfIe. F,om rM 5'.",.. to the Pra;,;ft p. 77.
(3) [i('Jdrr. Adolph Di.O_tlt:hMin KO".uPOJen p. 57.
(41 Ibid. p. 129. (5) 8f>yer. Rimai'd. Di. OwtreMn in OIt·GMizitHr. . ONtlChe Pon.cu dlllTl Oat.". J940. N. 2. pp. .s. 7.
(6) Siewert. Handd. Unuiedlung dB VQllc6deuucher .UI, G.,;zi.n und KobIhyMin. ONtrehe Po,t .u, t1wrt OIl.". ~. 12. 1939. Pll!"J I·~. (7) KaindI.Il.F. Dr. O. _IX"'" in fUr lIukowino pp. 2. 6. 10. (8) Kink. f. Di. WoIh."niMld~trt:hen.Jh'''''k uttd ih, Schick"', Ht'im.dbuch 1959. p. ~2.
(9) Alth.auliI"n. f.rnat. Pulor. Die DeutlChen in WoIh)'niett. p. 2.
(10) Althau~n. ErMa. Pastor. 0/# Deutxh." in WoIhynifln. p. ·t
(, I) B...... j..~. The P...... n . Polish 1.'tI,(Nlit. _trio;,., in South Ookoto p. U. 83. (121 S'umpp. K. Or. OiodoulXhoA_.ungruch RlJ#Iond 1763·1862. PIll' VI (13) Bon....toch. G.rlwdl Ot. G_hicJtto d. douIXhM KoioniM on d., WoIlI'" pp. 30·31. (U) Stumpp. K.rt Dr. Tho G.mon R"....n. p. 12.
(15) Bonw...ch. G. Ibid. p. 23.
(161 Martit•• Andleu.Ausd.""u"nddo"lXhM Frmc/I"ng. Oouru:hoPonousdom 0._ 19411. p. 14.
(J 7) Stumpp. K...I Dr. 010 Ru_ouIX_. p. 13.
(18) Smith. C.H. $I"", of tho _noni.... p. 387
(19) ljrcbchmidt..q .F. OMIt/oito G_hichtll/)uch d., h"ttelischM II,...... pp. ~35-436. (201 Stumpp. K..... The G""""ft R""n•. p. II. (2n p. 15 (22) Ibid. p. 14. (23) Stumpp.J. Oio R,,_outlChM. p.pp. 24.26 (24) Ibid. p. 25 (251 Ibid. p.26
(26) The- c'Jlholics WtTl!: under II Genniln· Ku.'lKian 8itohop who ".!lidrd Ii SU'I'OY. (27) Stumpp. Kart. O. "_ndd_schM. p. :!8 (28) Ibid. O. _,'''' _goOie.. ulld be (29) Schmid. f.dm..... Di# deutlt:hM !Colon;'" im SChwM"..,p«iiflt Su«J Ruw.ndI p. 25.2fJ. (30) S.hock. Adolph Pro!. In q..... of I,. fond. p.97 (31) BiUi"llton.. R.A. ""'f'l4tieI'd ..pension. p.703 (32) Ibid. p.699 (33) Schaum",. Wi.iam. Autobiography of Will.", Sc/M.,lfI.,. p.97 (34) Bo""k.mp"r. Johan-. TogIIbucIo IOn /849. p.44 (351 R.lIth. Grorc. Prof. D;. RuuI~ftI:Jt."in dM V.,.ini,ren Stuten lIOft NOIfJ Amttit.. lIeim.tLu...h. 1096:1. p.p. 26.33. 17 (36) Rath. GeDrJ. Die Ru••nddwtxhen in'" V~nigten $flMten ..vn Nofd A".,ik.. Hif.imalhu~. 1963. p. 35. (31) Ibid p. 34. (38) Smith. C.H. rM coming of ,he Rumen Monnoni.... p. 70.11 (39) Zi.padlmidt A.J. 0.. klein< Geochicht>buch d. hurrorilchon B,uod. IiO) lI.iran. G,..... p. 604 Exi/«I by 'he Ca,. pp.92·96 & C••ddert. C.II. 1411 Smjlh. C.H. rM cominr of rhe Ruuian Mannoni'•. p. 107 (42) Zi<1daehmid•• AJ.f. A.. kleina GOIChicht>budt d. Hutt.iochen B,_. p. 459 (43) Ibid. (44) \l.nd.J. J.J. Hi.""" of rhe _",e of E." F_man. Sil.... L"e _ _, F,_n end H"""" of F--..1I958·'9511 p.2S (45) SaD,.I. Richud. RUG/.ndd~tlt:h.Sitldlungwt in dt1n Ve"inigten $fIM"n. pp. 17.18.1 Z. J3. (46) Smj.h. C. H. Tha coming of rhe Rwsion AIIennonite. p. 158·159. (41) Sall••• II. Ibid. P. 32·33. (48) WiUiarna. naltie Plwn. A .cMlstudy 01 the Ruailln·Q.,,,,.,,. (49) Smith. C. H. Ibid. pp. 112.113. (SO) Smith, C. H. TM CDmingof the RUaMn Mennonit... p. J45. (51) Sallrl. lIidl.,d. Ibid. pp. 34-35. (52) rM Golden ./ubi,. of 'fie GantIMI·R_ion _ttl_II of Elli••nd RUlli count/... K._ pp. 13-14 .... Ihe loIIowi,.. ($3) s.nel. II. Ibid. p.18 (,5.4)(55}.Sa1l••. II. Ibid. 1836. (56) lIobinaon. Hi_y of Nor'h Ooko,. p. 160. (51) SolIeI.II. R..... _todIe SiMllun,.. in d.. VetWini,..,. S1N_. p. 16. (58) Ibid p. IS. (59) Ibid Ibid. pp. 39 If. (60) ibid p. 43 (61) Ibid p. 43 (62) Ibid p. 42 (63) Ibid. p.43 (64) Ibid p. 43 (65) Ibid P. 31 (66) Ibidp.19. (61) S.UI'I. Richard. RuaMttddeutM:he Sitldlungen in den Vr.reintctrn Stulron. p. 311. (68) Ibid. P. 20 (69) Ibid. p. 38 1101 Ibid. p. 20 (71) Ibid. p. 20 (72) 'bi!! p. 18 .... 19. (73) Ibid. p.21. (74) ftalh. G. Oi. RwllMtddeuachM in" V.,.,nigr.n Stu'M ~n Nord AtMTik•. Hrimalbur'h. 1963. p. "2. (15) Will...... H.llie Plum. A .oeM!.tudy of 'he Ruuian·G.,man p. 147. 18 .Ekalerinburg Nillmi Nou(jorod 1:. • tiazan 0 tiunn!jsh ( Moscow"" • :> Arzamas .Alalyr 5111011'IIsl;;// .. tialu(ja Simbirsk Samara • ~~., MOllil!'l) •Pema ~. Orenburg Orel .Talllbou (;,\ g (\ t1ursh. .~ Worollezh ~. ~ 5aralou Boriso(jlebsli t1alll!jshin • '6 0'1 Pollaua (J/ Tsarils!Jn s ~ Chern!! Yar 'f: t10dali V 0 Azou Ta(jallfOn· Astrakhan rl"'\.U'Y" lAJALTERS llK ~t3 Norway 'N 3 '1 Finland - Baltic 80a- ~-L:.r ell' Prulil. WI.I Pru.... I'., PenZi ,I ' ,, of• ' hirtn•gon , . ~" "", ," " fiI- .,.~. . Blurll Rlglon 01 Volga Switzerland • Munich Glrman Slmlmlnl. Austria 11764·611 Hungary Sia 01 Azov _BlackSea Romania Migratior ~te of the Volga Germans (1763-68) THE GERMANS OF RUSSIA - The western boundary of Russia in 1914 1710-1959 ~ Bailie Germans. descendants oltheTeutonic Knights and Hanseatic traders of the late 12th and early 13th centuries; incorporated into Russia 1721; played a leading part in the Imperial Russian civil and military services ~ German agricultural colonies established in Russia from 1762 German workers emigrating to Russia in order l1li to work in the new industrial centres of Russian Poland from 1880 • Towns with large resident German communities. principally traders :'J Home of half a million Germans by 1914. L.. Established 1918 as the Vol9a-German Republic, a Soviet showpiece to encourage German communism. Many German "kulaks" deported to Kazakhstan 1927-1933 during the collective period. All the Germans of the Republic were deported to Siberia in 1941 @) German collective farms shown to weStern visitors in the 1930's as examples of effective teutonic communism AUSTRIA HUNGARY .!.ugansk , TURKEY Russia obtained her first large German colony when Peter the Great annexed the Baltic lands in 1721. In 1762 Catherine the Great invited further German colonists to settle in Russia to stimulate agricultural development, offering them land. religious freedom and sel~overnment. In the 1880's the PERSIA industrial growth of Russian Poland led to a large influx of German industrial workers. German seltlers·continued to buy land in Southern Russia and on the Volga until 1914. There were over 1,771,000 Germans in Russia in 1897; o 300 1,600.000 in 1959. The Volga Germans. deported by Stalin ! to Siberia, have disappeared Miles PROVINCE~ ~~SSIAD POPULATION THEOF EUROPEA IN 1900 PERM 74 Area Settled By OLD-S.-VlAAA - .': :~.....;.t.>:.:'£:';," 'lolga-Gerllllln ~ ... \;:.~::.'" VOLGA-GERMAN Co loDiea ---::~.",:.-.:: ;~.: ~~.,_a ..... _ COLONISTS (r'W/M/ .~:;':'~:~: ~" •••~ ;.~":.::~~ And Their Abolished .~Ul\M"1II. Autonomous S.S.A. eltll.:iua....b t~ i:;i~,:::':i;:f:':~;'~ l. •• '''<7'''1'' ~J' ",,,,,,'''J'' o 'Ofla" • \ WI • ""'IJIII"'" o \ , , o (&nrac.t.) . , '-I • , , \ \ I., "~'.t • COlonial-,'CoIIM,. • • YOl&a~TWa" Co 10,,1•• "tIIts,a"ta11road.Citle1'• .-t-;: iUtlOq I _~d. I .--ll_r. I I \ ,._-,--- \---. o II, 11 l THG VOI.GfI Gck'/I1AN5 FRED C. kocH German Russia Volga Area PIONEERS 00 'M) roNTINF:NTS: GERMANS TO RUSSIA AND AMERICA Gwen Pritzkau Born In Utah. Resides in R1 verton, Utah. Acquisitions processor, Salt Lake County libraries. Author, lecturer, teacher. HISTORY AND CAUSES OF D§ITGRATION Coming to a backward country, [these German missionaries] and merchants soon For several centuries it had been the set themselves up as rulers. Although custom of Russian rulers to invite the Germans were few in nunbers, they saw foreigners to settle in their realm. to it that the region alo~ the Baltic Coast from Danzig to the Gulf of Finland Their invitations brought skilled was predOllinantly Germanic in law and workers, politicians, artisans, crafts custom. The small German population was men, and farmers. As early as Ivan the much involved in trade, industry and Terrible (1533-1584) there had been a government. German section in the city of M::>scow. The first Romanov Tsars, Michael and Peter the Great found his new subjects Alexis, wished for Russia to become entirely to his taste. In these men he Europeanized, but it was Peter The Great, found the help needed to Europeanize son of Alexis, We made the first deter Russia. As lo~ as Russis was ruled by mined effort alo~ these lines. Tsars the Baltic Germans played a large psrt in Russian affairs of state. After Peter became Tsar, he toured Ger many, Bolland and England. Be was so Peter the Great slso introduced the impressed with what he saw in western policy of intermarriage of the Royal Europe that he brought back with him a House of Russia with its German counter collection of skilled workers and crafts-· psrts. This practice was continued for men in hopes of teachi~ the techniques several generations, which made the Royal of the West to the Russians. This task Family almost completely German in blood. he undertook with great enthusiasm and However, for the most part, they were energy. The Russian people were IlOt too devoted to the interests of Russia. receptive. Be pleaded, threatened and punished. His efforts produced a small After Peter's death, little was done to beginni~ and that was all. promote Western manners and customs. The next ruler to make any great effort to The great Tsar realized that he must change Russis was Catherine II (1762 develop c February 1744 and was married in August many that was busy fighting in the Seven 1745 to the Grand fuke. The Princess was Years' War. Her imitation held no lively and intelligent. She 900n learned cial inducements. Six months later, the language, history, custcms and prob 1763, Catherine issued a new manifesto, a lema of her newly adopted country and masterpiece of immigration propaganda, soon became devoted to Russia's which became the foundation for Russia's interests. colonization policy for the next hundred years. In contrast to the keeIHllinded Catherine, Peter was a dullard given to heavy drink Catherine published her invitation in the ing, interested only in playing soldier papers in Germany. She followed her [and wOlllen less gifted than his wife.) notice by sending German-speaking agents When Empress Elizabeth died in 1762, the into areas where they found toousands of Grand fuke Peter then became Emperior discontented people willing to listen to Peter III. Before long he had alienated her message. I shall list briefly the the people that mattered. lie had of highlights of that famous docunent. fended the military, the government, and the Church. As Peter's popularity de 1. Large tracts of free land, plenty of minished, Catherine's grew. lIer tact and water, free timber. personality won her numerous loyal 2. Good opportunity to practice a trade friends, whose mmbers were augmented as or establish industries. soon as Peter's accession pennitted him 3. Interest-free loans up to ten yee,s. to threatend his wife with divorce and to 4. Freedom from customs duties on goods apply such ill-judged reforms as his brought into the country. capricious fancy dictated. 5. Free transportation to Russia. 6. The right to settle anywhere in .,-~ On June 28, 1762, a snall revolution took country. place which ended in Peter leaving and 7. Freedom from taxes for five to being sent to an estate at Ropsha, where thirty years, depending on area. he died in a drunken brawl with officers 8. !b excise fees on new industries for \ltD were supposed to be guarding him. ten years. 9. Exemption from military service for These events placed Catherine 011 a t.ltrone themselves and their descendants. which she did not have any legal right 10. IDcal self-government in colonies. to, but she did have the approval and 11. Full religious and academic freedom. support of the Russian aristocracy. 12. Free to leave again if they found Russia unsuitable. Early in her rule she made liberal changes. She built schools, hospitals, In addition to the above-named benefits, extended religious tolerance, and brought the Russian govemnent also agreed to about agricultural reforms. The largest some help with transportation and contribution she made to agriculture was oousing. the founding of the German colonies near the Volga River and elsewhere in her These Germans junped at the chance for a realm. She had hoped that such settle better life for themselves and their ments would bring industry, new ideas and children. a higher standard of living. At that time Europe had engaged in many These Germans were to serve as models for wars. The young men had to spend part of the Russian peasant fanner. In December their lives fighting in some army. ~ 1762, she issued the first invitation to cost of these wars kept the common maL her German countr)llllen. nus first proc the brink of starvation. fue to the high lamation brought little results. She taxes imposed, the peasant lived in dire sent her agents into the section of Ger- poverty. 369!Prit2:kau 3 At one time in history Germany enjoyed threatening severe punishment, confis religious unity, but with the Reformation cation of goods, and prohibiting the sale came religious conflicts which brought of property. about small wars between independent states. If the ruling Prince or Duke was These actions did rDthing to stem the Catholic and another was Lutheran, this flow of emigration. n.e people still was reason enough for a war. The German left in large groups. peasant of 1763 did not have much to be happy about. He groaned under heavy In 1768 Emperor Joseph II forbade all taxes, his young sons were dragged off to further emigration to Russia from any fight in wars in which he had rD inter where in Germany. Therefore, for many est, he was persecuted for his religious years there was only a trickle of German beliefs. Foreign as ",,11 as German ar emigrants to Russia, mostly those having mies had just devastated his fields, his family there since the first group left cattle, and his home. Industry and trade in 1763 and 1764. had been disrupted. Poverty, lUlemploy ment, and malnutrition ""re widespread. By 1767 more than seven thousand families (twenty-six thousand people) had gone to Catherine's message brought hope to those Russia. For the most part these imni who ddred not hope, and faith to those grants had cane from Hesse, but other who dared not believe. parts of Germany were represented as well. In order to survive they knew they would have to leave their homes, families and As soon as the necessary emigration friends. arrangements were completed, the w:>uld-be emigrants met in· the appointed cites. There the Russian travel agents located TIlE FIRST IMMIGRATION INl'O RIJSSIA temporary liVing quarters and issued a snail food allowance daily, which was With a promise of a better life, the based 00 the size of the family. first German colonists prepared to leave their beloved fatherland. Before they InaSlllUCh as land was to be given only to could leave, all debts had to paid, heads of families, many marriages took arrangements had to be made for older place prior to leaving Germany and often family members staying behind, and deci between partners who came together as sions had to be made about what posses strangers. !be marriage registers from sions to take and lotlat to dispose of. Budingen, Rosslau and Lubeck are very Real estate, cattle, and furniture had to helpful to the researcher. be sold. Food and clothing for the long journey had to be made ready. It was a When sufficient numbers had gathered, time of much activity. There was an ex they were transported to a Baltic sea citement in the air, but a sadness in the port, usually Lubeck, where they boarded heart. a ship that took them to Kronstadt, near St. Petersburg. From Kronstadt they were Catherine had appointed a Johann Simolin taken overland in crude, slow-moving to act as special ccmnissioner to head wagons, or 00 foot, to OranienballD. Here the emigration organi2:ation. His they were given crude materials to build deputies were Friederich Meixner, whose makeshift huts which were to be their headquarters were at Ulm, and Johann living quarters while waiting instruc Facius, with headquarters at Frankfurt tions for the next move. on-Main. About four hundred families went to Russia in 1764. The emigration It was here in this volatile settlement movement brought strong reaction from the that many became disillusioned. In spite German governments, resulting in laws of the pranise that they could settle 369/Pritzkau 4 anywhere they liked, they were told that A few of the German imnigrant groups cl U they would be transported to the distant not go to the Volga River area. but .. and desolate area of the Volga region and directed to settle elsewhere. A group of that they would all become farmers. 110 families settled near St. Petersburg in 1765. In the same year, a small group They waited weeks, sometimes months, be of 34 families from Wurttemberg was sent fore word came approving the final move. to a Count's estate in the Voronezh The emigrant groups took different region where they settIed the isolat ed routes. but the following is typical. village of Riebensdorf, in the political district of Woronesch. They were Small ships, always overcrowed took the Lutherans from the German village of immigrants to St. Petersburg, up the Sulzfeld near Ileilbronn. Within a nunber River Neva to Schusselburg, along Lake of years, their population increase made Ladoga to the Volkov River, up the Volkof it necessary to establish several River to Novgorod. daughter-colonies. some extending as far south as the sea of Azov. Here began an overland trek to Torshak on the Volga. The wanen and children were In 1766, another 80 families were sent to forced into wagons piled high with Hirschenhof and Helfrelehshof. The same baggage. years, 147 families went to the Chernigov region where they started the six The men and older boys had to walk. Many villages of the Belowesch settlement. In of the immigrant groups reached this 1767, another 67 families founded three stage of the journey in the late fall colonies near Jamburg. These groups were when the weather was cold. Many fell exceptions. The main flow of imnigranr" sick and were left behind in some obscure went to the Volga River area. Russian village, while many died en route and were buried along the way. Some Although the Russian government had groups had to spend the winter in the promised housing for the newcomers. they Russian village of Torshak where they found neither houses nor lumber with were quartered with the native peasants which to build. Instead, they were shown in their emall, lIIIelly, and overcrowed how to build the Russian-type mud huts. huts. Fran Torshak, ships took them to In some cases. the Germans had to live in Saratov, which was the nearest town to these hovels for two and three years .be the proposed settlement sites. fore they obtained the materials to build a proper house for their families. Here, near Saratov, the Russian govern Housing and building materials were not ment had marked-off both sides of the the only thing found in short supply. Volga River for settlement. The first Cows, horses, pigs, chickens, and farm group of colonists arrived there on June implements were very scarce. The fam 29, 1764. They founded the colony of implements and building tools were root Ilobrinks, which was located on the west only hard to come by, but they were far bank (Bergseite) of the Volga River. inferior to those they had left behiru:l in From 1764 to 1767, shipload after ship Germany. Seeds for crops and gardens load of colonists arrived at Saratov and arrived too late to plant. Many of these were led to the barren Volga regions. first colonists did not have enough warm clothing for the coming winter. Due to A total of 104 villages were founded in the lack of trees, there was not enough this fashion. One hundred and three were fuel to keep the tuts heated. Because nf German, and one was French. Of these, 44 these problems, many people died t were on the west side (Bergseite) and 60 first winter. In the spring, floods came on the east side (Weisenseite). with a and washed away the mud huts, and they population of 6,433 fa:ailies or 23,109 had to start allover again. people. 369/pritzkau 5 It was rot ootH 1775 that the colonists caused general destruction to dle Germans had a good harvest with enough yield to as well as to the native Russian peasant, feed themselves and their livestock. had row been driven away. This was due to several reasons. Many of the colonists had never farmed before. Catherine II began to look elsewhere for Even those who had been farmers had to new lands to conquer. learn new cultivation methods. They were oofamHiar with weather and seasonal con In 1768-1774 and 1787-1792, Russia and ditions. They were ignorant of the types the Turks fought for the rich, fertile of soil and which crops to plant where. lands surrounding the Black Sea. The Russians were the victors, which extended Many of the people were mistreated by the empire to the Black Sea. The Crimea greedy village "directors" who were Peninsula was incorporated into Russia in interested only in their own wealth. 1783. Many wished to return to Germany, but there was ro going back. In 1786 Catherine sent agent Georg von Trappe into the Danzig region of West Gradually, the immigrants adjusted to Prussia to recruit new settlers. - The their new surroundings and slowly houses Mennonites of West Prussia were having began to replace mud huts. Within a few problems with the government and the years schools and churches were built. Lutheran Church. It was a well-known Trees were planted along the streets and fact that the Mennonites were clean, good wells were found in every village. honest, hard working, industrious, pro ductive, and model farmers. This group Along with the other hardships were the would make a good contribution towards wolves and bands of robbers that roamed building up the vast, uninhabited steppes along the lower Volga area. These of the Ukrain. It took scme time for the robbers were attracted to the German Mennonites to prepare for the move to colonists because they represented a high Russis. In the meantime, von Trappe led form of living than had been known in the a group of Lutherans froo Danzig (fifty area. They not only stole goods and families) to Russia, where they founded cattle, but kidnapped people either to be the German colony of Al t-Danzig, near used as slaves and servants or to be Elizabethgrad. Sane fourteen families of sold. this group were directed to stay in the nearby colony of Alt-Schwendorf, which For many years it was rot safe for the was settled in 1781 by Swedes froo the colonist or his family to be alone on the island of Dago under the leadership of roads or in the fields. They formed in Ivan lfaximovich Sinelnikov, an official groups to protect themselves and their assigned to them by the Russian govern livestock. ment. But these Germans were rot happy there, so they left and went to AI t Within a few years there developed a Danzig to be with their countr)'lllen. cOlIlDunity pride and the Germans began to prosper. They ro longer yearned for In 1788, 228 Mennonites families left their native heme1and. To the younger West Prussia and started several colonies generation, this land of the Tzar was in the Chortitza region of the Ukrain. heme. Catherine II died in 1796, but before her The Russian government was highly pleased passing she saw many of her dreams bear with the fine colonies, wheat fields, new fruit. industries, and all of the other accom plishnents of the German newcemers. The Paul I, son of Catherine, was ruler froo plundering tribes, who for so many years 1796-1801. During this time colonization had robbed, kidnapped, burned, killed and came to a standstill. Froo 1801 to 1825 369/Pritzkau 6 Russia was ruled by Alexander I, son of 4. N:l more than t1oiO hundred f amili-- PauL He carried out his grandmother' a year would be accepted. policy of imnigration, and once again the 5. They wanted only people of a higher call went out to GeIlll8Ily for coloniats to class. settle in the Ukrain. Because the first imnigration of GeIlll8IlS under Catherine II The quota was ignored, and for many years had been so successful and had been the nunber was much larger. satisfactory to both the Reich and to Russia, the second invitation was most Most of the imnigrants came from Wurttem welcane. berg, Baden, Palatinate, Alsass, Hesse and Bavaria. They also came from Poland This time the invitation was directed and Hungary, where the Germans had mainly to the thickly populated areas of settled many years earlier in another southern Germany. The Ukase of the Tsar migration. West Prussia and Prussia were had the same basic conditions as that of also represented. Catherine. German-speaking travel agents were sent to Ge IIIl8Ily to 0 pen 0 f fices for The imnigrants fran Poland and Prussia the IUrpose of enlisting and interviewing came on foot or in wagons. They traveled prospective settlers. overland', bringing their few possessions with them. Many times you \o1Ould see an Again, as in Catherine's time, the area older member of the family being pushed of southern GeIlll8Ily was war torn, over in a wheelbarrow, the journey taking taxed and oppressed. Napoleon was taking several months to complete. Oftentimes their young men for his armies. Civil they had to bury a loved one along the disorders and religious conflicts were way in an UlUllarked grave. ccmnon. The conditions made it easy to enlist people to colonize faraway Russia. The families fran southern Germany came in one of two ways: ov BRDn:N PRCIfiSES LEAD 1'0 MASS EXODUS pamphlets had reached the German colonies in south Russia. Catherine's manifesto of 1763 had given the German colonists special privileges. In 1849, a group of tOlenty-one famil ies In 1871 these same pranises were abro (eighty-three people led by Ludwig Bette gated. From this time on, the Germans no from Johannestal) came to the United longer enjoyed living in Russia. States. They boarded a small sailing vessel, the ·Constantia," which sailed This change came about during the reign from Odessa on July first (old style) a~ of Alexander II, who was very anti landed in New York Harbor on 22 Oc tober, German. From the beginning, the German some 101 da~ later. Some of this group, colonists had enjoyed home rule, used Bette included, found their way to German language in schools and church, Kelleys Island, Erie County, Ohio. They and had lived in closed colonies. On seemed to prosper, as in 1872 Bette re June 4, 1871, a decree was issued that turned to Russia to visit his relatives. would change that. The Russian language His apparent wealth no doubt made an was to be used, and their villages would impression on his relatives and friends. soon be incorporated into local Russian He told them of the opportunities that government. Still worse was the law of were available in the United States. 1874 which made military service compul Ludwig Bette returned to this country on sory for all Russian citizens, including board the "Westphalia" on August 2, 1872. the Germans. The promise of freedom from military service for themselves and their This good news must have spurred the descendants, for all time, was for them colonists to make ready for 1mnigration one of the most attractive features of to the United States as the first group Catherine's manifesto. left tliO months after Bette had left From October 1 to November 13, fou Ufe in the Russian army was terrible. different groups left Russia. They Often the soldier had to serve from 6 to sailed from Hamburg, Germany, and landed 20 years. Discipline was harsh, pay was in New York. poor. The families that were left behind were not provided for, and, more often They spent the first winter in America in than not, they never saw each other Sandusky, Ohio. The following spring all again. but four families went to Yankton, !Jaketa Territory, becoming the first German Even before the military law was passed, Russians to homestead there. the Germans began to think about migrating and sent some scouts to the In September 1874, a small group of Volga United States and South America to Germans came to Kansas, Nebraska, and investigate the possibility of a mass Arkansas. During the winter of 1874 migration and the conditions of obtaining 1875, another snall group came to Red land. oak, Iowa, and a larger group going to Lincoln, Nebraska. The Homestead Act, signed by President Uncoln in 1862, made it possible for any In June 1873, a group of four hundred iJIInigrant willing to become a citizen to persons from the Worms-Rohrbach area, receive 160 acres of free land. By 1873 near Odessa, settled in Sutton, Nebraska. the railroads had reached across the vast plains of the midwest and, through the About three hundred thousand Germans left government, had been endowed with Russia in search of freedom and land. Of millions of acres of land. They had this mmber, some went to South Amerie spread immigration propaganda in Europe, and Canada, but the bulk came to America. attracting people who were interested in becoming American farmers. Some of these The Volga Germans found their way to 369/Pritzkau 11 Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, After the war ended, many Germans left Wyaning, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Okla Russia and returned to Germany. homa, Iowa, and also Michigan and Cali fornia. The remaining Germans suffered greatly. Many were shipped to Siberia or The Black Sea German is mostly found in Turkistan. They were not allowed to North Dakota; South Dakota; Sutton, settle in all German colonies. They were_ Nebraska; Eastern Montana; Oklahoma; forced to abandon their German culture. Idaho; California; Eastern Washington and They were forbidden the use of the Gennan Colorado. language. The migration lasted until the First The villages of the Black Sea and Volga World War. are no longer inhabited by Gennans. The churches have been destroyed, and the village names changed so that today one THE FATE OF 'l'BOSE \/II) STAlED BEHIND would never know that Germans had once lived there. Although the remaining Gennans did not agree to all of the anti~rman measures Thousands perished while on forced brought about by Alexander III, they marches. Thousands more died in labor adapted as best they could and seemed to camps. Families were split up, never to prosper. After his death, his son, see each other again. Nicolas II, relaxed the rules set forth by his father. Today, as in the past, these Germans are once again making agricultural history. As a rule, the German colonists remained Wherever they are living, they have loyal to the Tsar. They did not take turned the barren waste lands into part in the revolution of 1905. In fact, timber, grain crops, row crops and vine many of th.... suffered heavy losses during yards. They are producing crops where the revolution through raids by the local nothing ever grew before. Russian peasants. They had no desire to take part in any politics outside of Contact with the outside world is their own Village. limited, but it is possible to exchange letters with family members. At the begirming of the t_ntieth cen tury, the German colonist had hit the peak of economic prosperity. Most of his THE GERMAN RDSSIAH IN AMERICA _alth was in the land and industry. They had large farms, nice houses, large The voyage to America took anywhere from herds of horses and cattle, and ate very seventeen days to several weeks, de well. His neighbors, the Russian pending on the weather and the condition peasant, had not prospered. of the vesseL A feeling of resentment against the The immigrants left fran several ports, Germans was spreading. such as: . Hamburg, Bremen, Liebau (Russia), also the ports in Holland and The outbreak of World War I was a shock France. Some of the people went first to for the Germans in Russia. They became England and then to North America. "enemies of the people." They were re garded with suspicion and hatred by the Most of the imnigrants booked passage in Russians. Although many of their young "steerage." The quarters were cro\oded, men served in the Russian army, many dirty, and foul smelling. The food was giving their lives, they were never to be poor and the other passengers were some trusted by the Russian government again. times less than polite. In general, the 369IPritzkau 12 voyage to America was anything but blizzards were so severe that many a_ pleasant. homesteader became lost and sometim'l froze to death. As soon as the ship docked, the passen gers were subject to a medical examina In the spring the virgin sod was plololed tion. If a person had a certain eye and crops were planted. Although a small infection, called trachoma, they were not harvest was realized that first year, it permitted to go ashore. Thus, families was two or three years before they had were separated, and sometimes they were enough for themselves and some to sell. sent back to Germany alone, or they went to South America where the restrictions Wi thin a few years, the sod houses wet"e were less severe. replaced with fine homes. Large barns, herds of cattle and sheep, and windmills Once on land they were met by harbor were found on every farm. missionaries of various churches. Usu ally these missionaries guided them to Again, the German-Russian had turned un towns where other German-Russians had occupied lands into the bread basket of settled. They advised them about train the world. schedules, places of departure, and how to exchange their money. Churches came later, as did the school houses. For years, both school and Another form of aid to the newcomer was church services were held in the Ger:nan immigrant houses which were found in language. cities farther west. Accommodations were available to those immigrants with little Wherever the German-Russian settled, you or 00 funds. will find German names for many of tr towns, school districts, townships anu As a rule, the Black Sea German bought church parishes. The names of villages tickets for the Dakota Territory, the went from Germany to Russia to the United Volga for Kansas and Nebraska. In later States, Canada and South America. years, many German-Russians went to Canada. In contrast to their dorfs in Russia, rural farm life in the United States and As soon as suitable land was obtained, Canada seemed very lonely and monotonous. the settlers concerned themselves with The hanesteads were far apart, giving providing a shelter for their families them an iIlInense solitude and sense of and livestock. It was not uncommon for loneliness. At. least in Russia one had the settler to live in a dugout, with the next door neighbors with whom they could wagon box serving as roof, until a sod exchange words of greeting and comfort. house was built. TI10ugh the German colonists .came from The houses were all similar in construc: Russia, they were not Russians. Further tion, usually with two roans, a stone more, they disliked being c:alled Russian. oven for heating and cooking, small Just to look at them it was indeed diffi windows, dirt floor and one door. Sane cuIt to distinguish them from native times the barn and house were under the Russians; however, that was just in same roof with only a wall separating the appearance. The language, culture, and two. customs were strictly Germanic. Trees were very scarce, being found in The first generation pioneers retain, scattered hollows. Cow or buffalo chips much of their historical characteristics. were gathered and dried for use as fuel. Children of that generation associated with 00 one outside of the family unit or The winters were long and hard. The others of their kind. 369/Pritzkau 13 With the coming of the First World War, centuries left their haDeland in Germany the German colonists entered a period of in favor of Russia and ended by coming to cultural transition. The process of America. They were not gold-seekers or cultural fusion had been accelerated. speculators, but sought to build perma Unfortunately, many descendsmts of the nent homesteads, to help promote economic colonists are ~ompletely uninformed of progress, and to bestow upon their de their heritage. scendants the values of hard work, honest effort, self-reliance, thrift and an un Those wanderers in transit for almost t>Io dying faith in God. BIllLIOGRAPHY Aberle, George P. From the Steppes to the Prairies. Dickinson, N.D.: 1964. Geisinger, Adam. From Catherine to Khrushchev. Saskatchewan: Marian Press, 1974. !leight, Joseph S. Paradise on the Steppe. Bismark, N.D.: North !lakota Society of Germans from Russia, 1972. Keller, P. Conrad. The German Colonies in South Russia, 1804-1904. A. Becker, trans. Saskatoon: Western Producer, 1968-1973. Rath, Georg. The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas. Freeman, S.D.: Pine Hill Press, 1977• Sallet, Richard. Russi~erman Settlements in the United States. Lavern J. Rippley and Arman Bauer, trans. Fargo, N.D.: Institute for Regional Studies, 1974. Schock, Adolph. In Quest of Free Laud. San Jose, Calif.: San Jose State College, 1967. St\.lllPP, Karl. The Emigration from Germany to Russia, 1763-1862. Tubingen: Karl St\.lllPP, 1972. Other Resources – Germans from Russia American Historical Society of Germans from Russia http://www.ahsgr.org/ Germans from Russia Heritage Society http://www.grhs.org/ Cyndi’s List – Germans from Russia http://www.cyndislist.com/germruss.htm Wikipedia – History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germans_in_Russia_and_the_Soviet_Union Germans from Russia Heritage Collection – NDSU Library http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/ The Sidney Heitman German’s from Russia – Colorado State University http://lib.colostate.edu/gfr/ Bestandskartei der Rußlanddeutschen, 1750-1943 (Index cards of ethnic Germans in Russia) Russisches geographisches Namenbuch : Kartenband – by Max Vasmer German captured documents collection : reports from ethnic German communities in Ukraine, 1940-1944